Wandering
by HiFry
Summary: Draco walks hurriedly through the castle corridors, searching for Hermione before IT catches up to her first.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a short (very short) fic I wrote upon request for a friend, and my requirement was to keep it a page long so that's what I did. **

* * *

_Shit; I lost her. Where the bloody hell did she go? She was right next to me. How could she slip away like that—especially with _It _out there? _

Draco was breathing heavy in the shadows of a broom cupboard. His eyes shifted back and forth in the pitch-dark, and his mind was racing with thoughts of where Hermione had gotten off to. Last he could recall they were side-by-side—being chased—and the next minute he realized she wasn't just trailing behind, she was altogether gone. He ducked into the closet to catch his breath and think about his next move.

There was no time, though. He had to go _now_. There wasn't time to sit and ponder; staying in one place for too long was dangerous; _It _could find him.

Draco turned the knob on the door slowly and quietly to avoid any clicking noises as best he could. He pushed open the wooden door carefully and it creaked slightly, making him wince. _Come on, Draco, just make a dash for the corridors, she's bound to be in a room back there somewhere. _

Before his mind had time to disagree Draco bolted out of the cupboard and bounded down the labyrinth of hallways. It was a losing-game, however—everywhere he turned there was a new dead-end.

"_HERMIONE!__,__" _He shouted under his breath, as he slightly jogged through the stone passage ways. His heart was racing again, and his breath, even less a part of him than the first time.

Suddenly he stopped. His heart made a sort-of jump and stall as he tried to process what he just heard. Maybe it was her! Or his own feet; or _It_.

Standing stock-still in the middle of the dimly-lit corridor he considered what might happen if _It_ caught up to him. He would _die._ His life would be over._ Forever._

Draco took a glance downward and noticed his wand in his hand. White-knuckled and shaking, he must have taken it out on instinct when he stopped running.

_Lumos_, he breathed, illuminating the space around him. There it was again—the sound from before. He swirled around slowly, sliding his heel and toe around on the smooth floor.

Squinting his eyes and leaning slightly forward with his wand-arm outstretched, he gazed, searching for the source of the noise—and then he saw it.

—Her mousy-brown hair sticking out just barely from behind a wall up ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors notes: I had a few people asking for me to extend the story so that's what I did, but there might be an alternate ending posted sometime written by someone else. we will see. but for now, I hope you enjoy this slightly longer than the first, second installment of this story. **

* * *

"FOUND YOU!" exclaimed the girl around the corner so loud the reverberations easily could have knocked Draco against a wall.

"_Bollocks," _he hissed as he collected his wits and took off down the corridor, escaping her line of sight.

_She's been turned,_ Draco thought as he trotted weakly away from a snickering Hermione Granger. _They got to her before I did._

"Come quietly, Draco, and I promise I won't tell the rest how you ran away like a coward instead of facing me like a man!"

_God; she's even more annoying than before_

"The harder you run the more humiliating it will be when I catch up! You know I can outlast you easily the way I am now!" her voice bounced from wall to wall but there was no sign of her behind him. Or anywhere. He could hear her clear as day but he knew he had lost her in the tangle of never-ending hallways.

_Oh! A one-way telepathy spell!–Should've known. She's literally in my head._

But at least it was only one-way. He could hear her, but she couldn't read him. If she could, he would have no chance at all. He was going to have to outsmart her, or at least throw her off to win this; seeing as her stamina far surpass his own the way she is now.

_It's time to end this_

* * *

Hermione took long, careful strides down the halls. She listened but he wasn't making the same ruckus as before.

_I can't seem to get the one-way telepathy charm to work; but why? –There must be interference from some stronger magic_

Hermione stood there, body unmoving, but her eyes quickly shifting back and forth in thought.

"That's it!" she concluded aloud. A bit _too_ loud, perhaps.

_The room of requirement; it's blocking my spell!_

Hermione made her way to the secret room as swiftly as she could without making any excess noise. It's never a bad thing to have the element of surprise, after all.

After some minutes of walking she finally arrived in front of a pair of large, yet unimpressive doors. And with her left hand outstretched, wand at the ready in her right, she grabbed the metal handle and WHAP! She flew backwards and with a hard thud landed flat on her back on the stone floor; her wand sliding away, out of reach.

Not a full second passed before she fumbled to get up but she jerked and quivered with static in her muscles. It was all she could do to hold herself up by her elbows just in time to see the twin doors fly open and a tall blonde boy swing wildly out of them only to land, sweaty and panting, on top of her with the tip of a wand pressed harshly into her neck. The chaos made her head spin, but she was aware enough to get a handle on the situation. She'd been duped. Lured into a trap that she pranced right in to.

"This is it for you, Granger; Do you give up?" he rushed out breathlessly, but with a gleam of success in his eye.

several seconds passed until she realized she was completely and utterly defeated. There was no recovering from this attack. She could hardly move, let alone counter the situation and hold her own.

"Fine" she replied, "I forfeit" she grumbled as the aggressive, red glint in her eye faded away.

Hardly trying to conceal his joy, Draco smirked and stood up. He took a few steps back and extended an arm to help her up off the ground.

Dusting off her clothes she walked in the direction of her wand and bent to pick it up, but before she did she muttered under her breath:

"It's over; you can all come out now."

As she did Seamus, Luna, Harry, Ron, and Ginny made their way one-by-one toward them from various hiding spots.

Shuffling over to Draco, Hermione tapped the outside of his hand with her fingers and mouthed 'good game' through all the others' noisy, competitive banter. He followed her gaze for a few seconds but, remembering where he was, averted his eyes, cleared his throat, and said:

"Next time, you lot, _I _pick the game. No more of this cat and mouse nonsense! And I'll have no more playing with stamina potions—it's cheating!"

* * *

In the end, it was all just a very heated game of octopus tag.


End file.
